One of the most striking anecdotes about Ludwig von Mises highlights both his influence and his unwavering intellectual integrity during a critical moment in European history. In the chaotic aftermath of World War I, Vienna was on the brink of a Bolshevik-style revolution. Otto Bauer, a leading Austrian Marxist and head of the Social-Democratic party, was in a position to impose Bolshevism on the city. Mises, who had been Bauer’s fellow student in Böhm-Bawerk’s seminar, engaged in numerous conversations with him during this period.

Mises personally convinced Bauer that attempting to implement Bolshevism in Vienna would lead to starvation and collapse, especially given the Allied control of the food supply. Bauer, persuaded by Mises’s arguments, ultimately refrained from taking that drastic step. Ironically, Bauer never forgave Mises for this intervention, seeing it as a betrayal of his principles, and the two never spoke again.

This episode is emblematic of Mises’s commitment to truth and principled action, even when it meant alienating powerful friends or facing professional isolation. As Mises himself reflected, he could only be effective by presenting the situation truthfully as he saw it, and he regretted only his willingness to compromise, not his intransigence.

Such anecdotes illustrate why Mises is remembered not just for his economic theories, but for his courage and steadfastness in the face of adversity.